Saturday, August 24, 2013

I’m in a Philadelphia State of Mind


Coming to you live from Center city Philadelphia! Survived my first week as a city girl again. The move in process was an incredible experience. Fun, stressful (physically and emotionally), exciting, nerve racking, blissful and sad ( going to miss my home) all wrapped up into two very long days. But a few hours into city exploration and I was excited and ready to go!

 
After my IN-Powered breakfast, (oatmeal with berries, banana, granola and almond butter!) and daily email catch up while watching the news, I decided to head out to break in my new gym membership! Just as I was finishing up, I glance over my shoulder to get a better look at the unidentifiable moving object that caught the corner of my peripheral vision.  My cat-like curiosity took control and I immediately sprung to my feet and headed towards the scene. Low and behold, there he was. Legs crinkling and squirming desperately trying to flip right side up, was a rust colored insect that looked to be about 6 inches long. I caught the eye of a fellow gym member and asked, “Umm, excuse me, but is that a cockroach?” He laughed and then grimaced and replied, “ Oh, gross, ya!”  We enjoyed a laugh over the sighting and quickly, but kindly, disposed of the intruder, I heard he was late on his membership dues anyway!

Some may think that a cockroach would be reason enough to seek physical fitness elsewhere, but not me. Just a few months ago I probably would have been so outraged and decided I was going to be miserable here.  But not anymore.  I have a new perspective - positive and forward-looking.   Having a positive outlook is not simply a practice in turning that frown upside down. No, quite honestly, I believe that those who are consistently in a hyper state of happiness may be faking to hide the truth. The truth is life is full of mountains and valleys, black diamonds and bunny hills, ups and down, home runs and strikes outs looking with the bases loaded (its how my mind works), whatever you want to call them. There are exciting moments, happy moments, sorrowful moments, overwhelming moments, blissful moments and disappointing moments. But they are just that, moments, passing like clouds. 


They take different shapes, sometimes resembling a familiar image that we recognize and sometimes they are completely unique. But moments, like clouds, are beautiful in their own right, just as they are.   It is simply a matter of perspective. We can choose to look down and focus on all of the cockroaches that share our space, or we can look up and enjoy the laughter and friendly exchange that the cockroach provided. I choose the latter. There are always reasons to look down and focus on what did not go well. But there are far more reasons to look up, be friendly, be real, be grateful and look ahead to the day unfolding.  You never know where it may lead.


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